Wonders of Mana
Once she was seated on the cloud, and relaxed her mental state, Damien continued, "Now close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Place absolute focus on your breathing."
"When you breathe in. When you breathe out. And remember, let your body take its course. Don't hasten your breathing, nor slow it down. Just focus."
Juliette was a bit confused, but she did so nonetheless. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Slowly, she realized how her thoughts went to null.
She was not thinking about anything but her breathing. And soon enough, not even her breathing was in her mind.
It was just darkness everywhere.
"..."
Damien did not say anything else.
From here on out, a person would be able to sense Mana automatically. In fact, he could already sense strange aura circulating around her body.
And slowly, that aura became more in tune with the sorounding environment, which was breaking apart.
But her concentration was not affected whatsoever. She was within her own space.
The environment changed to a mountain region. Mountains stood tall everywhere. But both Damien and Juliette did not focus on it.
Damien was more interested at the rate of Mana absorption Juliette was taking in.
The more talented a person, the more Mana they could intake every second whenever they cultivated their Mana.
Let's take an ordinary person for example. They would absorb 0,1 units of Mana every hour, and would likewise require a month to obtain the average Mana levels of an Apprentice.
But the higher one's potential, the higher their Mana intake. In his last lifetime, he remembered that the Sage of Beginnings, before becoming such a Legend, was a Mana genius.
Like a few others.
She was capable of absorbing 0,8 units of Mana every minute. Minutes. And not just hours. Meaning that she could absorb almost 500 times more than average ascenders.
Such a feat was terrifying.
But...
Why did it seem like she was absorbing more than she was expected to? He could sense dense Mana circulating around her, dancing like waves within the ocean at midnight.
"..."
He was actually surprised and decided to keep watching. The Mana danced even more as Damien did nothing about it.
He felt that they were cautious against him. Yet at the same time, worshipping Juliette. It was strange, but he thought nothing much about it.
Mana was one of the essence that make up the world. Within the Universe, it was actually the second most important element, excluding the god's Divine power.
Maybe they felt his origin was not from this world, and hence were cautious with him. But... that still did not explain why they worshipped Juliette.
"Oh? This is a bit peculiar." Damien still did not think much about it, and just watched in interest. His expression stern and stoic. 'I wonder... what more is out of place because of my return.'
He thought, looking forward to learning more about this world. And whether his descent, would result in anything out of his control or not.
*** Juliette Silver ***
I closed my eyes as instructed, and focused solely on my breathing.
The act itself was not hard, hence I was able to do it no problem. My heart relaxed. My thoughts clean. My breathing normal.
It was just as I was instructed.
And I could see some progress.
"..."
At first, I could see nothing but darkness. It was normal for anyone who closed their eyes. But next, I began to see a blue spark.
It was not far away from my consciousness, yet felt like it was unreachable.
At this point, my mind was blank. And the only thing I could focus on was the blue spark.
Come~
I beckoned at it. I know it was a strange action. And I don't know why I called out to it, but I felt the need to. Like a mother affectionately calling upon their child.
I thus called again...
Come~
...
It ignored me. But I was not disappointed, nor disheartened. I could still feel it's warmth bathing my body, and cleaning my mind.
I felt like my dark mind, was becoming a bit clearer to see. I felt like the darkness, was not so dark anymore.
A strange feeling. I know.
Yet that was how I could explain it.
Come, child~
I once again tried to call upon it, and failed. But to my surprise, a second spark appeared from another direction.
"..."
I turned around to face it.
Come~
I called out to it as well, yet like the first time, I was ignored. I was still not disheartened, and called up to them again.
Come, my babies~
The sparks shook at the beckon of my words, yet still did not come towards me. But thankfully, another spark lit up not far away from me once again.
There were now three babies.
And I could feel their warmth bathing my very soul, and changing my body inside out. I felt touched, and loved.
So, I wanted to love them back.
Please, come to mommy~
I begged. Yet was ignored. I did not know what it was I was doing wrong, but I felt like I was not being sincere enough.
I felt disheartened for once.
I felt disappointed at myself.
Don't you like me?
I inquired, to no one but the three sparks of blue light floating within the darkness with him.
Swiss~
The fouth spark appeared.
Ah, another cutie~
I responded to its arrival, and showered it with affection like the previous three sparks. And of course, I was ignored, but it still shared its warmth with me.
I was touched.
My despair gone.
It did not matter whether they came towards me or not, I do not mind. What mattered was that there are here with me now.
Swiss~
Oho. Yet another baby~ Hi sweetie.
The same process occurred. And my joy grew even more. Look how cute they are, and how shy they are acting.
Aren't they adorable.
"Juliette."
They are so cute I am even hallucinating their father's voice. How adorable.
"Juliette."
It's unfortunate daddy can not be here with you. He's a bit grumpy, but will still love you. Just don't blame him okay? Okay, my babies?
"Julie?"
Hm? Huh?
Am I not hallucinating a bit too much? No. No, wait. It must be an illusion. Yes, an illusion. I, I might just be overthinking things.
...
...
"Juliette Silver."
KYAAA!!! OH MY GAWD?!?!
I AM NOT HALLUCINATING AT ALL!!
"YES!!" I scream in both fright and fear, as I jumped up like a startled kitten. My voice was a tone higher than usual.
I was frightened of course. Don't ask why. I just was. Girls who are with boys whom they like will understand my feelings.
As for my fear? I was fearful of opening my eyes to an angry Damien. I would never want to see myself making him angry.
Thats not something a good wife would do... a good future wife. A good wife-in-candidate. A good wife-to-be. A good... Ah , you, you get it, don't you?
"..."
"..."
There was silence between us.
Big brother Damien stared down at me with an exasperated expression. And I stared back at him with a tearful expression.
I want to die.
I thought and avoided his gaze. Why did he even call me for?
"Three minutes are up. Our final opponent has arrived." Big brother Damien's words brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him, then the environment.
It was changed.
We were now within a mountain-like region. There were mountains here and there. Some short and narrow, some tall and wide.
But at the end, there were mountains everywhere, at every turning point.
But what caught my attention even more, was not the mountains, but the child-like humanoid being that stood not far away from us.
"..."
Another Spirit?
Did we not just kill a Windborne Spirit a few minutes ago? Should it not be a different creature, before a spirit appeared again?
I thought to myself. But at the same time, big brother's words also hit me. 'Final opponent.' Did that mean that I have more trials than Big brother?
Or that big brother also has to fight spirits? After all, while my opponents were purely spirits, he fought a demon and an angel. Whose to say a spirit would not appear next?
"This one might be a bit tricky. A Void-borne Spirit." He carefully whispered to me lightly. I nodded, yet felt like this might not be that hard.
After all... I have Mana now!!
I summoned up my template and immediately checked the new information that appeared. Especially the one on Mana.
[ Name: Juliette Silver ]
[ Mana: 10 units ]
[ Epithet(2: First Blood(Grand), Pioneer of Mana(Grand) ]
[ Class: Lvl 6 Classless ]
[ Sub-Class: None ]
[Alignment: None ]
[ Stats: STR - 18,0 || AGI - 2,25 || END - 17,2 || WIS - 0,1 || INT - 0,1 || AFF - 10,1 ]
[ Stat Points: 1,0 || Ability Points: 1 ]
[ Abilities : None ]
[ Equipment(2): Bracelet of Norde(Superior), Bracelet of Sarrd(Superior) ]
[ Resources(3): Tier 1 Random Treasure Chest(×2), Spirit Fragment(2/4), Tier 1 Spirit Shard(×2) ]
"..."
The current template was a surprise to me. I hurriedly went through it all, and genuinely, I was impressed.